Friday, March 4, 2011

A Funny Story About My Aunt Janet

A few months after my aunt became a widow ten years ago, she realized she needed a new car. Uncle Bob had done the car shopping for them, so this project could have been daunting. Yet Janet embraced it. She bought a bunch of car magazines and read up on styles, mileage comparisons and emissions reports. And in a month, she'd successfully negotiated for a new Toyota matrix, naming it "Mr Zippy." This all happened just before Christmas that year.

She proudly drove Mr. Zippy to a club meeting during the first week of ownership. It was the annual Christmas party and the president opened the celebration with the question, "What would you like for Christmas?" and asked Janet to go first.

Janet said, "Well! I'm glad you asked! I want a front license plate for my new car that says 'Mr. Zippy.' I want a bright red one with big letters that show up really well. I want the letters to be white, but yellow would be a good second choice." And she went on and on about the importance of getting this thing just right and then ended with, "So, that is what I want for Christmas and I'm telling everyone that's what I want to make sure I get it."

The president thanked her and moved to the next person, who said, "I want world peace." And then everyone else said the same thing.